DUI, vehicular assault charges leveled against Dover man

Dover Police have charged a local man with DUI and vehicular assault following series of incidents Friday afternoon.

Dover Police have arrested a local man after he was allegedly involved in s number of motor vehicle accidents on Friday.

Officers received a call at 4:33 p.m. May 2, that a white pickup had hit another vehicle in the area of Leipsic Road and North Dupont Highway, said police spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman. Witnesses said the truck fled the scene after the accident, Hoffman said.

Officers spotted the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Silverado, with heavy front end damage traveling at a high rate of speed on Leipsic Road after it had hit a Nissan Rouge from behind. The truck turned into the parking lot of a Sunoco gas station at 837 N. Dupont Highway, where it hit a Nissan Sentra, a curb and a light pole. The driver of the Rouge parked behind the truck and a passenger started to get out when the Silverado went into reverse and hit the car’s front end. The truck then was driven eastbound, where it was found in the 2000 block of Leipsic Road with the driver, identified as Taylor Mereider, 25, standing nearby.

Mereider was taken to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital for a blood analysis to determine his alcohol level.

Officers said Mereider smelled strongly of alcohol and discovered numerous empty beer cans in the passenger compartment of his truck.

All three occupants of the Nissan Rouge were treated for injuries received during the incident and released from Kent General Hospital; they included a 22-year-old man with a head/neck injury, a 26-year-old woman suffering from a head and face injury, and a 64-year-old man, who was treated for pain to his arm and shoulder.

Mereider was charged with three counts of second-degree vehicular assault, driving while under the influence, malicious mischief by a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury, failure to report a collision involving alcohol or drugs, reckless driving, and failure to have insurance ID in possession.